Results: NJPW G1 Climax 30 Day 8
G1 Climax 30 Day 8 Results
Yota Tsuji vs. Gabriel Kidd ended in a draw (15:00)
Gabriel Kidd has come along a great deal since joining NJPW. He worked a headlock on Tsuji in the most interesting way I’ve ever seen someone do it, cranking on it and reversing all of Tsuji’s attempts to break it in creative ways. His creative holds and transitions enabled him to dominate the majority of the match against Tsuji. Tsuji retaliated with a body slam into a single-leg Boston crab, but it was enough to make Kidd’s crumble after he tried a body slam of his own. Kidd locked in a full Boston crab, but Tsuji was able to make it to the ropes to break the hold. Tsuji hit a back body drop and applied a Boston crab of his own. Kidd was able to get out of it and hit a dropkick as the ring announcer said there was less than 1 minute to go. They both attempted flash pins but the 15 minute time limit arrived before either man was finished Both men kept striking each other after the bell rang until they collapsed in a heap.
B Block: Juice Robinson def. Toru Yano (6:42)
Toru Yano threw one of his t-shirts at Juice and asked him to put it on. Juice was suspicious of Yano’s intentions, but he insisted, and then attempted to roll Juice up, but failed. He then left the ring and told Juice to come after him, but Juice ripped the Yano shirt off and rubbed it between his legs before running after Yano. Yano outsmarted him and taped Juice’s legs together, then bolted back into the ring for the countout victory, but Juice hopped on his taped-together legs back into the ring in time. Juice managed to rip the tape off and hit the Left Hand of God, but Yano blocked Juice’s Pulp Friction. He tried for another roll up but Juice reversed it into a prawn hold for the pinfall victory. Juice 6 points, Yano 6 points
B Block: Zack Sabre Jr. def. Hirooki Goto (3:59)
Following his loss at the hands of KENTA, Zack Sabre Jr. wasted no time trying to dismantle the bandaged right shoulder of Hirooki Goto. He brought Goto to his knees with an octopus hold, then hit a cheeky penalty kick for good measure. The angered Goto hit a lariat with his bad arm and paid the price, collapsing in pain. He managed to still perform the Ushigoroshi on Zack, but when he went for his finishing move, the GTR, Zack dropped out of his grip and flipped Goto into the bridging European Clutch for the three-count, in a very fast match.
B Block: Hiroshi Tanahashi def. YOSHI-HASHI (18:41)
YOSHI-HASHI, seemingly in defiance of one of the elder statesmen of NJPW, adapted part of Tanahashi’s trademark strategy for himself, going after Tanahashi’s legs early in the match, including a Dragonscrew. Irate, Tanahashi pushed YOSHI-HASHI into the corner with elbow strikes and then repaid him with a Dragonscrew of his own. Shockingly, YOSHI-HASHI overpowered Tanahashi in a chop battle and then put him down for a 2-count with a sitout powerbomb. Tanahashi hit a Sling Blade when YOSHI-HASHI ran off the ropes, and then went for the High Fly Flow, but YOSHI-HASHI blocked it with his knees! He then hit a big lariat and applied the Butterfly Lock as the crowd rallied behind Tanahashi. He could see Tanahashi inching toward the rope and transitioned into a backcracker. Tanahashi tried to come back with repeated Dragonscrews, but YOSHI-HASHI managed to hit the Kumagoroshi for a near fall. Tanahashi blocked YOSHI-HASHI’s attempt at the Karma and hit a fast Sling Blade, followed by two High Fly Flows to put YOSHI-HASHI away. 4 points Tanahashi, 2 points YOSHI-HASHI
B Block: EVIL def. KENTA (15:40)
I was interested in this match before the tournament began, with the potential interactions between two Bullet Club members who have not interacted recently, and how Dick Togo’s allegiance might factor in. KENTA offered a 2-Sweet at the start of the match, and EVIL and Dick Togo gave each other a 2-Sweet instead of KENTA. Seemingly perturbed by this, KENTA whispered something to Dick Togo and then went about beating EVIL from pillar to post. He asked Dick Togo to help him but Togo did not get involved. EVIL Irish-whipped KENTA into the ropes and Togo grabbed his foot, making him trip, which made KENTA furious at how a Bullet Club member could cheat against another one. From here, EVIL controlled the pace, grinding KENTA down and wrenching on his bad left shoulder. KENTA retaliated with powerful kicks and a flying lariat for a near fall, but when he tried to follow up, Dick Togo jumped onto the apron to distract him and put EVIL back in control. KENTA pushed the referee into EVIL and went to grab his “IWGP US Heavyweight Champion #1 contender” briefcase. Dick Togo asked KENTA for it, and got hit in the face with it. KENTA then hit EVIL with it as well and followed up with the Busaiku Knee Kick, but EVIL kicked out. EVIL then came back with the Darkness Falls, but KENTA blocked the EVIL, and lifted the interfering Dick Togo into the Go 2 Sleep. This gave EVIL the opportunity to hit a low blow from behind and then the EVIL STO for the dirty win over KENTA. 4 points EVIL, 4 points KENTA
B Block: SANADA def. Tetsuya Naito (27:08)
Naito and SANADA have met in the G1 several times since SANADA joined LIJ, but no LIJ member has ever defeated Naito in the G1. However, the crowd today, being in the same prefecture that SANADA was born in, was on SANADA’s side. They clapped in bursts of three, as if chanting the syllables of his name. Naito took this personally, finding every opportunity possible to crank on SANADA’s neck while urging the crowd to chant for their hometown hero. Naito softened SANADA’s neck up with a top rope Frankensteiner and the Esperanza, but SANADA reversed his running Destino into the TKO cutter. From there, he landed the moonsault into the Skull End, reapplying the bodyscissors when Naito managed to get to his feet. He broke the hold to hit the top rope moonsault, but Naito rolled out of the way! As the ring announcer said that 25 minutes had passed, Naito hit a Destino only for SANADA to kick out. He wound up for another, but SANADA blocked it and hit a Destino of his own! He followed up with two top rope moonsaults and got the pin on Naito! SANADA 2 points, Naito 6 points
G1 Climax Updated Standings
A Block:
- 6 points – Taichi, Jay White, Minoru Suzuki, Kota Ibushi, Will Ospreay
- 4 points – Kazuchika Okada
- 2 points – Jeff Cobb, Shingo Takagi, Tomohiro Ishii
- 0 points – Yujiro Takahashi
B Block:
- 6 points – Toru Yano, Tetsuya Naito, Juice Robinson
- 4 points – KENTA, Zack Sabre Jr., Hiroshi Tanahashi, EVIL
- 2 points – Hirooki Goto, YOSHI-HASHI, SANADA
